


Rose [CHAPTERS 1-5 REVEAL]

by audydapotato



Category: Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer
Genre: Ares - Freeform, Cinder - Freeform, Cress - Freeform, Group, Jacinter, Kai - Freeform, Multi, Rose - Freeform, Scarlet - Freeform, TLC, fairytale, kaider, kaito - Freeform, lunarchronicles, marissameyer, meyer, thelunarchronicles, tlcfanfiction, wattpad, wiltedrose, wolf - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:01:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29560191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/audydapotato/pseuds/audydapotato
Summary: Happily ever after is the end... or is it? Rose, a 17-year-old teenager, is the only one who survived the drugged letumosis vaccine that was issued for her city. The only one conscious, her life intersects with the 8 heroes of Luna and the Earthen Commonwealth.When the source of the tampered vaccine direct to Ares, a 19-year-old member of a shady group, Rose's emotions toward Ares are mixed and difficult to sort through. Without her knowledge of her past family, the task to save the people is much more difficult than it seems.A new problem arises when the 8 are reunited, and it's not just a drug. A kidnapping spree, hundreds of people missing, is now the real problem, and they're going to have to work together again to fix it. The group of 10, Rose and Ares included, set off to get to the bottom of the missing citizens, no matter what the cost is, even if it will make them lose their own beloved.When Rose finds out she isn't just a normal teenager, it's going to take much more than sarcasm, brainwashing, injuries, and the past heroes of the Commonwealth to keep off a mob; they'll need her to reach her full potential.
Relationships: Crescent Moon "Cress" Darnel/Carswell Thorne, Iko & Linh Cinder, Iko/Liam Kinney, Jacin Clay/Winter Hayle-Blackburn, Kai/Linh Cinder, Scarlet Benoit/Wolf | Ze'ev Kesley
Kudos: 1





	Rose [CHAPTERS 1-5 REVEAL]

**Author's Note:**

> All characters (excluding Rose, Ares, Meri, etc) are from Marissa Meyers, I do not own them. Stars Above are not included in the fanfic. The only information that is regarded in Stars Above is the marriage with Wolf and Scarlet and the engagement, but they are at a different timing than the book states.  
> Don't forget to drop a vote if you enjoy it! This is the A03 version, but the official one (Wattpad) is on my profile (@audydapotaot_yt). That's where I will be most active. Because this is an alt, all comments will be moderated and/or not allowed.

**Chapter 1- A Vaccine**

···

Rose sighed as she continued to knit on the sofa, half watching the portscreen on her lap, half knitting a blanket. "Wrap... down... pull... push... pull... wrap... UGH!" Rose threw the work-in-progress to the floor and buried her head on the throw blanket. "Why can't I get it right?!" she groaned, shaking her dusty-blonde out of her eyes. 

Surrendering to her deformed blanket, she pulled her hair into a tail and got up. Checking the clock, she frowned. "Mom isn't home... I guess she won't mind if I get a snack," she said, shrugging to herself. 

5 minutes later, she had a sandwich in front of her and propped up the portscreen on the stand. "Show the news," Rose said firmly to the portscreen as she took a bite of the oh-so-good jelly sandwich. 

The portscreen flashed a scene in front of Rose's eyes. Squinting, she leaned in, trying to read the words. A female reporter wearing a maroon coat stood in front of the castle. Crates were being piled into nearby vans next to the palace. 

"Letumosis vaccine is getting distributed to every city 1000 miles radius of the castle," she was saying, "The whole royal family, including the Lunar queen, has gotten the injections. The top doctors confirm that the vaccine from Luna is legitimate and effective." 

"Each city will have the same strain of the vaccine. For example, everyone in the palace got the strain 'LETU145', but a nearby town got the strain 'LETU130'. They have the same effect, just a tiny bit modified," she continued. 

The scene shifted to Luna as Rose took another bite of her sandwich. "A vaccine?" Rose thought out loud, getting lost in thoughts, "What about a cure? Isn't that important too?" Her questions were answered as she saw the Lunar Queen stand on a podium in front of everyone. Rose's eyes brightened; she almost idolized Cinder. "Volume up," she commanded to the portscreen and started to watch. 

"Many people are wondering about a cure for letumosis. The cure is going through its final stages of examinations before being passed out, but we estimate the distribution date will be in about 3 days. Many patients will have a prototype of the cure as a test," Queen Cinder said as she read off a small script of paper. 

After a few more questionings about the vaccine, Rose shut off the portscreen. On cue, she heard the door open; Mother was home. Rose quickly slid the dirty plate into the sink and greeted her mother at the front door.

"Mother, you're home," Rose smiled fakely, letting her in. Her mom smiled sweetly. 

"Yes, Rose. Can you please get the mail?" her mom said, washing her hands in the sink. Rose's mom was one of those 'rich moms'; she was strict about etiquette, she was very frugal, but was also very expensive. She looked like she was dressed in the year 95 T.E. 

"Yes, ma'am," Rose recited, secretly rolling her eyes. One of these days she would break out of this house and be free, but first, she had to get a nice job. No one wanted to hire a 17-year-old, per se, even if she was extremely skilled. 

She pulled out a stack of mail, mainly junk mail, out of the mailbox and tossed them on the dining table. Her mom gave her a warning glare, but she just sighed heavily. 

"One from the Benoit farms," Rose said, not hiding her boredness, "and they're trying to... sell tomatoes?" She peeled it open, reading the print. 

Her mother's face flushed. "Give me that," she said, snatching it from her. Shrugging, Rose looked at the next one. 

"This one's junk, we can toss that. They're trying to sell Mother's Day flowers, and we still have months until then... This one's to remind you to pay your rent, you should read that, and this one... it's from the palace!" 

Rose tore open the envelope with the golden palace seal printed on it and opened the card. Her mother's lip pursed. "Do they have another ball?" she asked, leaning in. 

Rose quickly scanned it, not believing her eyes. "No, it's the vaccine! Did you check the news?" she said, pulling out the portscreen. Before she could give it a voice command to turn it on, her mother's hand slapped her arm. 

"No portscreen until after dinner," she said, "We've been through this multiple times." Rose reddened and nodded slowly, looking down. 

"Now," she said, "Please read it to me." She started to get out some bell peppers from the fridge and started to chop them. Rose pulled out the card and took a deep breath, ignoring her extreme dyslexic problem. 

_" **Dear Madam Bethany Fang,**_

_We are pleased to inform you that we have a strain of letumosis vaccine (strain LETU379) available for you. Every household member must get the vaccine. Due to the generous donation from Queen Selene Channary Jannali Blackburn, we are giving the vaccine for free for the first 10% of your city to RSVP for an available time. We will be distributing it tomorrow. _

_Due to precautions, we will be giving the vaccine in your own home. For your city, your available time slots are... (each visit is 10 minutes)_

_7:00am, 7:10am, 7:20am, etc. all the way to 9:00am_

_9:30am,9:40am,10:00am,10:20am, etc. all the way to 1:00pm, excluding 11:40 and 12:30._

_For the whole list, please check your local news or/and reply to the hospital._

_Thanks,_

_Emporer Kai and the Earthen Commonwealth."_

"Hmm," she said as she turned on the saucepan, "that's definitely progress, a vaccine." She started to stir the pot. 

"Well?" Rose asked, "What time? I'm free tomorrow, the whole day!" Rose jumped giddily but immediately sat down before her mother could see her. 

"Tomorrow, 10 in the morning? I usually leave the house to the markets at 9, but I remembered that there's a holiday. I'd be going to operate the stands after lunch," she said after a long moment of thought. 

"Great!" Rose said, a bit too excited. She immediately flushed and pulled the messy blanket on her lap. 

"Very well," she said, "Tomorrow at 10. I will send a comm to the hospital later. For now, please fix that blanket. It looks horrendous." After that though, she continued to cook. 

Still, Rose had to admit that while she was knitting, the only thing that she could think about was the vaccine. 

···

Cinder's cheek reddened as she got off the stage after the speech about the letumosis cure. It had been a long day since she had woke up, and she hadn't eaten lunch yet. Being a queen of Luna was already busy enough, but she missed her friend, especially Kai. 

They tried to chat as much as they could, but eventually, they stopped doing a weekly call due to their own problems. She hadn't heard much of Cress and Thorne, she just knew that they were out on their own adventure on the Rampion. 

Wolf and Scarlet started a huge business from the Benoit Gardens and Farms, and Winter had started to work at the palace. Of course, Jacin followed. Cinder was officially alone, except that Winter occasionally checked in with her (perks of being her cousin).

"Queen Selene, would you like-" one maiden walked to her, but Cinder nodded sadly.

"I-I need a time to myself, Meri," Cinder said as she faced her red-headed assistant. Meri bowed. 

"Anything, Your Majesty," she whispered. 

"You can call me Cinder," she repeated. She had to remind Meri almost every day to call her by Cinder. 'Your Majesty' didn't fit her. She preferred to be a mechanic, after all. 

"Right," Meri said, bowing again, "I will be at my quarters. If you need me, comm me." With those words, she left. 

Cinder went to her room and took out her portscreen. After rewatching herself speaking, she went to go check her comms in her netlink. 

"Stars, I missed Scarlet's message," she sighed. 'Hey Cinder! Hope you're doing well, Wolf says hi! Do you want to call later?' it read. Seeing those words made Cinder tear up, no matter how short it was. 

'Of course,' she replied, 'I have time right now, but I think you're busy. The rest of the day isn't that bad for me, but I have a world-wide meeting via D-COMM links. Kai will be there...' She recalled her meeting schedules. 

In just a minute, another ping caught her eye. 'That's good... wanna chat now? I'm on break, and Wolf's...' from Scarlet. Cinder smiled a real smile for the first time today. 

'Yeah, sure,' but before she could send the message, a call request popped up. 

'Someone's calling me right now, I'll reach out when I'm done,' she typed then examined the call request. Gasping, she clicked 'ACCEPT'. 

"Cinder?" a voice said through the portscreen. Cinder's eye widened. 

"Adri?!"

···

**Chapter 2- Survivor**   


  


···  


"Adri?!"

A moment later, Adri's camera turned on. There stood Pearl and Adri, her stepfamily. Her eyes darkened. 

"This isn't a buttdial, right?" She asked, her finger hovering over the button to end the call. Pearl's eyes widened. 

"No!" she said, then immediately slunk back. Adri gave her a look. "I mean... no, Your Majesty," she added quickly. Adri rolled her eyes. 

Hearing Pearl saying 'Your Majesty' made Cinder's heart curl. It was weird to hear the 'respect' in her voice as she talked, especially when they had scorned her. 

"What do you want?" she fixed the sternness in her voice and pulled back some hair in her eyes. 

"We wanted- ok, fine- _I_ wanted to check on you," Pearl said, "Adri let me use her portscreen." 

"Oh."

Pearl blushed unnaturally as they sat in silence. 

"Well, I'm perfectly fine. I miss my friends like hell but being... queen... isn't that bad," Cinder said. When she said 'queen', Adri's cheeks flared. They didn't want to be reminded that Cinder was a queen and that they had seen Adri swear loyalty to Levana, whom Cinder... murdered. Oops, long story. 

"You should visit," she blurted out. As soon as she said it, she regretted it. _Please say no, please say no,_ she thought as she nervously watched Pearl talking to Adri across the screen. 

Finally, Pearl spoke up. "I would like to, but we're really busy," she said, fiddling with her hair, "But we'll talk." 

"Um, ok," Cinder said awkwardly. She noticed angry pings from Wolf and Scarlet on the edge of her vision. 

"Well, I have to go. Scarlet and Wolf, you know, my, uh, friends, are calling me via comm," Cinder said abruptly. Pearl whispered goodbye and they disconnected. 

Before she read through Scarlet's pings, she flopped on her bed and sighed. Even if Pearl and Adri hated her, she still cared about them... a little. They seemed so far away, which they technically were, but it was still pestering her. Finally, she read through Scarlet's messages.

'Kay, I won't keep you,'

'Um, hello?'

'CINDER?!'

'Are you there?'

'CINDER!?'

Smirking, she called Scarlet. In a millisecond, Scarlet's face appeared on the screen. 

"CINDER! What kept you?!" she said, "I would punch you if you were here with us!"

"I told you I was calling someone," Cinder said, running her hands through her hair with her cyborg's hand. 

"Ok, but it kept you quite a while," she said, "We've been waiting for almost an hour!" 

"I wasn't- oh," Cinder said, letting the realization dawn on her. There was a pretty big time difference between the moon and Earth. About 5 minutes could mean an hour for them. 

Suddenly, Wolf's face popped on the screen. He waved hi, but he looked exhausted. "What happened to Wolf?" Cinder asked, peering at the screen. 

"Well, _Your Majesty,_ Wolf went insane at the farm, and now he's like that," Scarlet waved dramatically at Wolf. Still panting, he sat down on a stool. 

"That's... interesting," she said. Scarlet glared at her alpha but then looked back. Wolf was lunatic-crazy over Scarlet, making her his 'alpha' many months ago. The adventures at the opera house seemed years ago, now that she recalled it. 

"So, how's your alpha doing? We haven't talked in 2 weeks! Anything big happened?" she asked as she propped her head on her palms. 

Scarlet beamed when Cinder mentioned Wolf. "Oh, Kai hosted another ball a while ago, celebrating the end of the war. You _really_ should go to the annual 176th Peace Ball! Did Kai talk about it?" 

Cinder recalled her conversation with Kai. "Yeah, he did, actually. I marked it down, but I don't know if I'm going to be busy or not. Speaking of Kai, how's he doing?" 

"He misses you. A lot," she made a face, "But he's fine. Just a bit stressed without you, you know?" Cinder couldn't blush, but she could definitely feel like she did. Now was one of those times. 

"I- yes- uh-" Cinder stammered, obviously flattered. Scarlet, approving of Cinder's stammering, smirked. 

"Oh, one more thing," she said, "He says that he 'misses you and... _loves you_ '. Isn't that sweet?" She blew a raspberry at Cinder. 

"Shut up," Cinder said, rolling her eyes, but she still couldn't forget about what Scarlet said.   


"Anyways, any words about The Rampion?" Cinder changed the subject. At this, Scarlet frowned. 

"I haven't heard from Cress and Thorne, but I've seen glimpses of The Rampion in the clouds sometimes. Oh, it's time for me to go," Scarlet checked the clock, "See you soon?" 

"Let's," Cinder smiled and broke off contact. After adjusting her portscreen, Cinder checked her schedule. 

"Dammit," Cinder said, "I have a meeting in a few minutes." Cinder quickly adjusted her hair and began to comm Meri. 

In 2 seconds flat, Meri was at her door, ready to serve Cinder. "I have a meeting, can you set up the D-COMM link?" Cinder asked, pinning her hair. 

"Of course, Your Majesty," she said and left swiftly before Cinder could correct her. 

She briskly walked to the empty meeting hall and turned on the link. Immediately, a video screen popped up and she was in the meeting. She had been in so many meetups, being 'queen' was getting easier, but she was still scared that she would mess up. 

"1 minute late, Selene," Vargas noted. 

"Sorry, I was getting ready," Cinder sighed. Vargas nodded somberly and pulled out a notebook. 

"Now, can we start?"

···  


Rose was restless as the official came out of the hover and injected Rose and her mother. After the shot, her mom nodded Rose a goodbye, signalling she had to get to the market. It was now Rose and the useless android. 

Her android was a model Scan3.5, one of the newest. Unfortunately, it had mysteriously blacked out and never turned on again. Scan3.5 were supposed to be one of the most intelligent androids, but this one was definitely not intelligent. 

She decided to make it a project to fix the hulk of metal, but she had 0 skill in fixing and repairing objects, so she had thrown it to the corner of her bedroom. Now that she had time, it was time for her to fix android. 

Grabbing a flashlight, she started to open the control panel and shined the light inside the chip-holder. Now, what was the next step again? Frowning, Rose tried to push the wires out of the way, but she ended up making a computer chip pop out and clatter to the floor. 

"It's no use," Rose sighed as she fingered the chip. She tossed her hair behind her shoulders and peered at the chip. It was a regular silicone chip with the words 'C543' on it, which was probably the chip number. 

Rose jammed it in again and clicked the power button. Promptly, it flashed a light then dropped to the floor. "Screw it," Rose muttered, "I can't do it. I guess I'll have to ask Cinder... but she's all the way in Luna. Ugh." 

Annoyed, she went through the toolbox, trying to find the screwdriver. Nada. Mother took it, she thought, getting up. "I'll go ask Mother then," she said to herself and briskly ran to the market. 

When the booths became visible, she started to shout her name. "Moth-" her voice faltered. She rubbed her eyes to confirm the sight. Everyone in the market place was collapsed on the sidewalk. Rose's eyes widened when she saw her mother lying on the floor. 

"Mother? MOTHER!?" she waved her hands over her closed eyes and tried to shake her awake, but nothing worked. Were they dead? Did she call a hover? Would they blame her? 

Without missing a beat, she started to comm the hospital. As she waited for the siren sounds to appear, she anxiously paced around the booth, making sure everyone was unconscious. Was it a murderer? Did they suddenly just pull a prank? Poisoned? 

Poisoned. Poisoned. Of course. Everyone took the vaccine today. How could the vaccine be drugged? No, it had to be a different way. But, it was the only reasonable answer... then why isn't she one of them? Why isn't she collapsing on the floor? 

That didn't matter now. The only thing she had to know was that she's a survivor. Teeming with fear, she waited for the hover sirens to become audible. "Mother..." she gasped, wiping a tear from her eyes. 

···  


**Chapter 3- Damsel in Distress**   


  


···  


Cress scanned the surveillance cameras carefully, typing commands and equations on the program. The Rampion sailed smoothly in the clouds, soon to be accelerating into space. After one more glance, she shut off the computer and closed her eyes, sighing. 

The past few months on The Rampion with Thorne was one of the most thrilling (and dangerous) days of her life. Her hair started to grow extremely fast a few weeks ago, so her old short-cut was now to her waist. 

"BOO!" Thorne jumped behind the seat, throwing his arms around her neck. 

"OH MY GOSH- THORNE!" Cress spun back and whacked Thornes forehead while pulling his arms off. 

Thorne started to laugh hysterically as he face-planted to the floor. It was the 3rd time he had scared her that day, and Cress was getting extremely annoyed. 

"Don't do that again! It's the third time!" she said, fire raging in her eyes. Thorne snickered but nodded. 

"Maybe," he said, nestling a kiss on the top of her head. 

"Get off," she swatted Thorne's head. He just flashed Cress a smile.

"If you say so," he said and left the room. Thorne was a major flirt to almost every girl. From Cinder to Iko, the annoyance never stopped. Cress had gotten a humongous crush on him from the news, but she had never imagined going with Thorne on The Rampion, the same ship that they used to save the world with. 

Thinking about Cinder made Cress fight a tear. Cinder stayed behind in Luna to rule over Lunars, but they all missed her dearly. Even with the portscreen calls, Cress still wished that she got another day to spend with Cinder. 

Iko had also stayed with Cinder. After all, it was her android to take care of. Thanks to Thorne, Iko had got a new body; a dark girl with bright blue and navy hair. Even Cress somehow missed Iko's sarcasm and fashion-taste. 

Cress was a useless shell that was brought to solitude in an orbiting satellite. Thanks to her 7 friends, she was saved from that horrid place. Even though she had left Little Cress there, she still wished she would never see that place again. 

"Cress? We're descending," Thorne's worried voice touched her. Cress's eyes widened. 

"How low?"

"Uh, we're gonna hit Earth in maybe, uh, 1 minute? If you could get us up, that would be great," he said, reading off the chart. 

Cress snapped out of her daze and turned her attention to the panel. "Stars," she cursed, "The controls are jammed. Did you do something in the engine room? I can save us 10 minutes."

Silence. Then a voice, "Uh, I might have gone to check the electricity for Rampion and may have clicked a switch." 

Shoot. 

"THORNE! We're going to crash!" Red lights started to blare from the alarms. Cress started to push the buttons as hard as she could, but nothing was working. 

"I'm going to the room... let me click this one... done! Is it working?" 

Cress facepalmed herself. "You turned on landing mode! Do you not know how to do it?" 

Silence again. "No," he replied through the speaker. Stars, they were going to crash. 

"Ok, we'll have to land," Cress said, pulling the lever. Did she ever tell Thorne that she never landed something before?

"Land?!" Thorne replied, running into the control room. Cress nodded. "We can't-" Thorne started, but was interrupted by the alarms. 

"Too late," she said, pushing the lever down. The Rampion immediately slowed down. 

"WHERE ARE WE?" Thorne yelled over the sounds. 

"Gosh, we're over the palace," Cress checked the location scanner. Thorne groaned loudly. 

"We're gonna die when Kai sees us," he sighed, "But let's do this." 

Together, Cress alined the landing tool to the palace and took a breath. 

···  


Emperor Kai paced around his quarters, his head filled with thoughts. He had just sent an 'urgent medical hover' to a young woman called Rose... claiming that everyone was dead? He also had to go over 300 reports of vaccines, one per province, and reply with a custom-made, 500+ words letter summarizing the reports. Lastly, he had to stack on the worries of Cinder, Cress, Thorne, and Iko. Mostly Cinder, but he loved them all.

He felt a tear go down his cheek, but he immediately wiped it away and urged himself not to cry. He wasn't a person to cry for scenarios like this. He had to put his trust to his friends and hope that they were fine. 

"Your Majesty?" Torin, his advisor, knocked on the wall to catch his attention.

"Oh- Torin," Kai said, quickly turning to him. 

He reddened of the attention, but continued, "There's someone who would like to see you."

"The Rose girl?" Kai asked, sorting through his thoughts. 

"No, a boy and a girl. I think you'll recognize them," he gave Kai a rare smile. His first thoughts were Wolf and Scarlet, but he remembered that he had talked to them 30 minutes ago and they were all the way in Riuex. 

Torin opened the door. Cress and Thorne, all scratched and dirty, ran out. Cress immediately gave Kai a tight embrace. She was so excited to see him that she gave him a peck on the cheek and immediately widened her eyes. 

Thorne just smirked, watching the scene. "Are you going to steal every girl I like?" Thorne commented. Kai glared at him. Thorne's smile died downed. 

"So.... why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be on The Rampion?" Kai asked. Cress immediately looked down. 

"You say it," Cress nudged Thorne. Thorne, just as sheepish, also looked down. 

"No one? I can go get a Lunar- the Lunar and Earth exchange is doing perfectly well-"

"NO! Ok, we'll tell you. Cress crashed The Rampion," Thorne said. 

"Oh- _wait..._ ARE YOU SAYING YOU CRASHED THE RAMPION IN THE PALACE?!" Kai screamed.

Cress took interest in her shoes. "Cress?" Kai asked. 

"Ok, well... we didn't crash exactly inside or on top of the castle, but near the field area. Thorne had scared me so I lost focus... and now we're here," Cress explained quickly. 

"I think you're smudging the details, I didn't scare you so that you could lose focus," Thorne added to Cress's explanation. Cress sent him a dirty look but looked back at Kai. 

He ran his hand through his hair. "If there's no damage, you can go-" 

"Actually, we can't. Thanks to Cress, Rampion is broken. I checked the damage; only the best mechanic in the universe can fix it," Thorne said. 

"Best mechanic?" Kai said, a smile curving from his lips. 

"In other words... Cinder," Cress added helpfully. 

Kai sighed. "Cinder is... 239 thousand miles away from us. You'll have to find a replacement mechanic," he reasoned. 

"We kinda can't... can you _please_ go ask Cinder? We won't bother you," Thorne pleaded.

"Can't you comm her yourself?" 

"We would, except all the signal is gone," Cress read off her portscreen. 

"You're holding a portscreen," Kai noted. 

"Yes, but the signal doesn't work to contact people. The air that is closer to the atmosphere haywire the comm-signals which wouldn't let the signals travel," Cress said. 

Thorne flopped on a nearby sofa, exhausted. Kai sighed. 

"You really are killing me. I'll contact Cinder, but you two need to get cleansed. Now, where is my portscreen? Torin?"

···  


Rose climbed on the hover and glimpsed at the market. The clouded windows made it hard to see, but she could see lots of people, lying unconscious on the ground. 

"Can we take a blood test?" A med-droid hovered next to her, clutching an injection. Without saying a word, she shoved her arm out for the med-droid to inject. She waited for the results.

A doctor came to her, holding a clipboard. 

"You have taken the LETU379 strain of letumosis vaccine; like everyone else did out in the markets. We checked nearby homes, everyone is unconscious, except you. It seems like the vaccine was drugged, but you were able to withstand the drug in the injection.

"We have claimed that you have an immune system to the drug, but new studies show that you have a filtering system. We will not keep you, except for some scans in the palace will be mandatory," she read off the paper. 

Rose looked at her nametag pinned on the pocket. Doctor May. 

"Oh, uh, thanks, I guess," Rose rubbed the injection wound with her thumb as she watched med-droids inject the unconscious people. 

"Did any other city have this... drug?" Rose asked. 

"Not that we know of. Emporer Kai will be reviewing the reports of the vaccine to confirm," Doctor May said, watching the large portscreen on the wall. 

"Oh. Do you have any idea of who the person behind the drugging is?"

Silence. 

"Actually, we do," Doctor May said after a long pause, "Muscle men working for Wilted Rose."

"Wilted Rose? What kind of name is that? Portscreen, search up Wilted Rose," Rose commanded. 

Her portscreen lit up. 

"Wilted Rose, or WR for short, is a mysterious gang of thieves and thaumaturges? Is this like LSOP? Lunar Special Operative?" Rose read off. 

"Wilted Rose members aren't Lunars, but they could count as one. Horrid creatures. One member must've touched the vaccine with some drug," Doctor May said, not looking up.

Rose had one thousand questions in her mind. Members? Did they know magic? Were they like Levana? Why Wilted Rose? How come she never heard it before? 

Rose, determined, wrote a mental note in her head: she was going to get to the bottom of the mess. 

···  


**Chapter 4- The Invitation**   


  


···  


It was around 1 in the morning when Cinder got a call from her portscreen. She had a stress-free day after the meeting, but she wasn't expecting a call that early. 

Thankfully, Cinder was awake. She had been developing insomnia, so she was messing with some tools. Even if she was the Queen of Luna, she wouldn't ever get rid of her mechanic past. 

Groggy, she tapped accept and fixed her hair. "Cinder?"

Cinder stopped. Why was... Kai calling her?

"Kai?"

"Oh gosh, you're awake, What time is it for you?" Kai replied. 

"One sec... it's 1:30 in the morning," Cinder said, checking her clock. 

Kai's nose wrinkled. "1:30? Am I disturbing anything?"

"Nah, I was already awake. What's wrong?" Cinder asked, pushing hair back from her eyes.

"Cress and Thorne's here. They want you to fix the Rampion. Cress crashed it," he said quickly. 

"The Rampion... CRESS CRASHED IT?" Cinder asked, surprised. How could Cress crash the ship that they travelled on to save the world?  


"Long story, Cress was explaining everything for hours. Long story short, Thorne scared Cress, classic couple stuff, which got Cress out of focus. They crashed near the fields. Stars, now to think about it, that was the one that I promised you that you could overlook when you became empress," Kai said. 

Cinder smiled slightly. She didn't forget Kai's proposal months ago, but she still had to return to Luna. "Well, at least I get to see the crater from The Rampion," Cinder said, rubbing her eyes. 

"Basically, Thorne wants you to come back for a vacation to fix The Rampion. I mean, we all need to see you again. Wolf and Scarlet said that they'll visit the palace tomorrow," Kai said, messing with his hair. 

"I don't know... I mean I know I'm an Earthen Ambassador but Luna stills need me. Plus, the Lunar Festivals are coming," Cinder remembered the coming festivities. 

"Well, that's not that bad. A couple of days won't work, and the whole Luna-and-Earth situation can be solved in the palace. If we're trying to make a stronger bond between the 2 planets, maybe you could host the festivities at Earth. It makes it look good, I guess," Kai shrugged. 

Cinder rolled her eyes. "It's called the _Lunar_ Festival, but I'll ask Meri. Oh, Meri's my personal assistant," she sighed. 

"I guess. But at least fix The Rampion? Cress and Thorne need it to become the worlds best criminals," he joked. 

"We literally proved them a hero, now they want to tarnish the title?" Cinder said, laughing. Kai shrugged. 

"You never know. By the way, Winter misses you," Kai said, fingering the hem of his shirt. 

"Ok, _fine,_ I'll go visit. If Winter misses me, I'm coming," Cinder said, making up her mind. Kai brightened.

"Stars, thank you! We really need you in our lives for a few days," Kai sighed thankfully. 

"Don't make me regret it," she joked, laughing. Kai blushed bashfully as he pursed his lip. 

"What is it?" Cinder asked. She knew that Kai always had something to ask when he pursed his lip. 

"Oh... nothing," Kai sighed, "Just think about the... you know, engagement."

"You're thinking about that already? Listen, I miss you so much, but I'm not ready to become Empress. I promise you that I will, I swear. I just need to figure out how to rule Luna, then I'll be ready," Cinder said, spreading out her arms. 

"Which will be any day now," he said, smirking.

"You never know," Cinder smiled, drumming her fingers on the desk. 

···  


Scarlet watched her husband take a bite out of the tomatoes he had picked. "Careful, Wolf," she spread out her fingers on the table, "Don't eat them all! Kai's going to be waiting for the delivery later." 

Wolf rolled his eyes. "I won't, Scar," he said, taking another bite. It was a hot summer afternoon after a long day of working in the fields. Scarlet sighed and tossed her scarlet hair out of her eyes. 

"Kai said that Cinder's coming," Scarlet said, stretching out his fingers. 

"Really?! When?" Wolf asked, pulling out the portscreen, no doubt trying to comm Cinder. 

"Today, maybe. Kai said that's she's coming, that's it," Scarlet said, twisting a strand of hair in her index finger.

"Well, at least we get to see her after what, 8 months?"

"5 months," Scarlet rolled her eyes. 

"Right."

"Anything from Cinder? News? Comms?" Scarlet asked, walking behind Wolf's shoulder to see the portscreen.

"Nothing, but I just sent a comm to her," Wolf said, kissing Scarlet.

Scarlet blushed. "Tell me if you see anything," she said, "But we need to go visit Kai later." She recalled the conversation with Kai. She had promised to go visit them today, but Wolf was delaying the trip. 

"I know, you've been saying it all day," Wolf sighed, "But I still have things to do." 

"The train comes in 10 minutes, so hurry up," Scarlet snapped her fingers, "I'll be in my room if you need me."

13 minutes later, they were all seated in the nearby train. Ignoring the whisperings around her, Scarlet checked the portscreen news. 

"Is that Scarlet?" a young boy asked her mother, who was busy reading. 

"Honey, it isn't nice to stare," she said, not looking up. 

Scarlet ignored them as she commanded the portscreen to show her comm list. HOW ARE YOU DOING, Iko's comm read, I AM GOING TO BE HAPPY TO SEE YOU AGAIN. 

Scarlet smirked as she thought about the blue-haired girl who stayed with Cinder in Luna. She missed Iko's sarcastic points and how she could criticize Scarlet's wedding dress all she wanted. Even after her wedding with Wolf, Iko slipped in some comments about her style and dress at the wedding. 

"Cinder replied," Wolf noted, also checking the portscreen, "We are arriving soon, hugs!" 

"Hugs? That doesn't sound like Cinder, did Iko write that?" 

"Obviously," Wolf rolled his eyes as Scarlet leaned her head on his shoulders. 

"Did you hear about the vaccine?" Scarlet whispered, tracing her fingers on Wolf's palm. 

"Yeah. It feels good that we're saving people's lives after we almost died millions of times, yet we're still in one piece- well, maybe not Thorne," Wolf snickered. 

Scarlet's thoughts trailed to Thorne's missing fingers. "Oh, that reminds me," Scarlet piped, "He got his prosthetics a week ago. It doesn't compare to Cinder, of course." 

"If it can shoot tranquillizer darts, I'll be impressed," he joked, nudging Scarlet's shoulder. Scarlet smiled and dug her head in his shoulder, smelling his shampoo. Closing her eyes, she embraced the moment with Wolf. 

···  


Rose didn't know what she was doing. After uncomfortably getting 10 shots on each major limb of her body, she could barely stand up. Rose, wobbling on some crutches, sat nervously in the foyer of the palace, waiting for Doctor May. 

The room was empty except for the Emporer's advisor, Torin, who was standing nervously in the corner of the room like he was waiting for someone. After what seemed like hours, the door opened. 

Bracing herself to see Doctor May, she stood, nearly falling off the chair. Instead of the familiar pixie-cut woman with red hair, a young man with beautiful black hair and copper brown eyes walked in, tugging the neckline of his clothes. 

"Your Highness," Rose stammered, bowing slightly without trampling over. Emporer Kai turned his attention to Rose. Her face blushing of the sudden attention, she sat back down. 

Emporer Kai walked toward Rose, no doubt examining her profile. She awkwardly pushed her hair out of her mahogany eyes and smiled nervously. Finally, he spoke. 

"Are you Rose? Rose Fang?" he asked, squinting at her. Rose nodded, a bit too fast. 

"Very well. Torin, grab a meeting room, I need to talk to Rose," he said over his shoulder. 

"Your Highness-" Rose objected, but Emporer Kai shook his head. 

"Rose, please calm down. Doctor May is currently busy with some people with letumosis, you will be with me for a moment," he said, turning around. 

Rose gulped and nodded, not trying to hide her fear. She followed Torin into the hallway, where hundreds of doors watched her. 

"Do you know what's going on?" she whispered to Torin. 

"He's a bit stressed, I guess. Queen Selene is coming, and he's been a mess the past 3 hours," Torin said after a long pause. 

"Ok, but what about me?"

"He's probably wondering why you contacted him for some medical hovers when you claimed 'everyone was dead'," he said, stopping at a door. 

Rose tensed as she opened the door. Some doctors were loitering in the room, probably waiting for Emporer Kai. Rose noticed one person with the name tag of:

"Doctor Quinn, PA of Dr May"

Rose gulped and sat down at the seat. She fidgetted with her locks as she stared at the walls, What did Kai want? Was he mad that she urgently called 50 med-droids and doctors to help a stupid village girl?

Her questions were answered as Emporer Kai walked in, looking flustered. She could hear some murmuring in the background, something about Selene and Rampion. She saw a flash of blonde hair at the doorway before Kai tumbled in.

"I swear... Captain," he muttered as he shook his hair, almost making Rose swoon. He turned his attention to Rose and his expression turned grave. 

Gulp. 

"So... tell me about the incident," he sighed. 

···  


**Chapter 5- Arrival**   


  


···  


"You didn't tell me you never landed a plane!" Carswell Thorne snapped at Cress silently as they followed Kai. Cress looked down sheepishly but didn't say anything. 

"Cress? Hello?!" Thorne shook his non-prosthetic hand in front of Cress's eyes. Kai glanced back at them, half amused and worried, before turning to them.   


"What are we doing here, Kai?" Cress asked, looking around. Dozens of doors lined the walls, each open ajar. Only one of them were sealed shut, and that was the one they were next to. 

"I have... questioning," Kai said slowly, "You guys can wait-" 

Before Kai could finish, Cress had already hacked the security cameras and accessed its feed. "You're questioning... Rose Fang? Did she, I dunno, protest about the soap?" Cress joked, scanning the face of a girl, about their age. 

"Don't joke around, the soap actually _was_ dry," Thorne nudged her shoulder. Kai sighed. 

"She took 10 emergency hovers, enough to carry one small city, to the market, claiming everyone was dead. Seems unbelievable, but she pleaded me," Kai rolled his eyes. 

"Seems legitimate, you never tried to clean the sewers," Thorne said, still looking at the Rose-girl. Thorne obviously had an interest in her: flawless olive skin, beautiful mahogany eyes, and flowing dusty blonde hair- 

"Thorne? It's _not_ the time to become lovestruck," Cress glared at Thorne, pinching his arm. 

"Huh- I wasn't-" 

Cress rolled her eyes. 

"I have to go," Kai motioned to Torin, who was standing impatiently in front of the doorway. 

"Mkay, we'll be watching here," Cress said, not looking up. Kai rolled his eyes, half-smiling, then opened the door. 

Thorne didn't know what sparked his mind. Maybe it was the fact that he wanted to see Rose. Maybe because the video quality was bad. Either way, he jumped up to peek through the door before Cress watched him.

"THORNE!" she whispered loudly, grabbing him by the collar-line, "They could've seen you! Are you crazy?!" 

Thorne smiled wildly at Cress before sitting back down. "Hey, gotta try," he said, before looking back at the feed. Kai awkwardly sat down, muttering some words. 

"So.. tell me about the incident," Kai said. 

"Volume, up," Cress whispered to the feed as Rose uncomfortably shifted in her seat. 

"I was- After everyone in the town took the vaccine, I started to- uh- work on fixing the home android," Rose pushed back some hair, "I went to find my mother for a-a tool, but when I got to the market, everyone was out. Unconcious. Dead." 

Kai's expression from grave turned graver. Thorne squinted at the feed, trying to work things out. 

"Dead? Did you feel anything when you were at home? Nausea?" Kai asked, tapping the table with his hands. 

"No- no, Your Highness," Rose said, not looking up. 

"I see. Doctor... Doctor Quinn, the reports?"

"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. We took some tests and vaccines on Rose to check her immunity level, it seems that she is immune to a couple of things. Rose has extreme resistance to bioelectricity, and she can only get controlled if the controller is extremely nifty in Lunar magic. The person would have to be approximately... maybe Queen Selene?' Doctor Quinn read off a clipboard. 

Cress gasped and shuffled. Thorne could see Rose's extreme discomfort, and he swore he heard her gasp when Doctor Quinn mentioned the Lunar magic. 

"Resistance? Go on, what about the drugged vaccine?"

"We went through some scans about the vaccine itself. It turns out there is an extremely heavy drug that makes the people unconscious, which would lead to death, if necessary. After some thinking, we can confirm that the person behind this was aiming to kill," Doctor Quinn said, tapping the clipboard for an effect.

Rose turned pale but kept her cool, or she tried. Thorne glanced at Cress. Cress was frowning at the feed like she was trying to solve a puzzle. 

"Cress?"

"Shh," Cress whispered, looking closer to the feed. 

"Was there any trace of the drug in her blood, Quinn?"

Doctor Quinn flinched as if she didn't like to be addressed without 'Doctor' but still answered the question. "I- no, Your Highness. It seems that her body produced a cell that killed the drug."

"Actually... I have something to say," Rose spoke up. All the eyes darted toward Rose, and she blushed with the sudden attention. 

"I think- I think you can figure out the immunity by checking my ID profile," Rose said, trying to keep her voice steady. 

"I- very well. Wrist, please?" 

Rose pulled her wrist toward the scanner and watched the holographic screen. 

ᴀɴᴀʟʏᴢɪɴɢ ꜱᴄᴀɴ...  
ꜱᴄᴀɴ ᴘʀᴏɢʀᴇꜱꜱ... 5%  
ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛɪɴɢ ɪɴꜰᴏʀᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ... 15%  
ꜱʏɴᴄɪɴɢ ɪɴꜰᴏ... 30%  
ꜱᴄᴀɴɴɪɴɢ ᴘᴛ. 1... 50%  
ꜱᴄᴀɴɴɪɴɢ ᴘᴛ. 2... 75%  
ꜱᴄᴀɴ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇ. ꜰɪɴᴀʟɪᴢɪɴɢ ꜱᴄᴀɴ... 99%  


_ID PROFILE_

_Name: Rosaline Meigui Fang_

_Born: February 19, 110 T.E. (17)_

_Occupation: None_

_Recent Posts: None_

_Scanned on December 18th of the 127 T.E._

"That didn't say much," Kai noted as he read off the screen. Rose sighed and took the scanner. 

"You click _this,_ " Rose said, pushing down a button. Immediately, the screen changed scenes. 

_INFORMATION SCAN_

_Ethnicity: Half-Lunar_

_Family: Bethany Fang, Alive. (Human) John Fang, Deceased. (Lunar)_

_Not capable of using bioelectricity, but glamour is possible._

_PAST SURGERIES_

_113 T.E. - Resistant cells are injected to Rose. Complete and success._

_114 T.E. Lunar Resistance cells are also injected. Malfunctioned, but works halfway._

Rose's jaw dropped. Thorne's eyes widened as he read off the screen. Half-Lunar? Wasn't Wolf and Scarlet the closest Earth and Lunar marriage? And what about the 'resistance cells'? Cress had the same reaction, though she had tried to hide it.

"Lunar... resistance... cells..." she whispered, gripping Thorne's hand. 

"Lunar?" Kai asked, spreading his hands on the table. Rose paled. 

"I-I- my mother didn't-" 

"Enough," Doctor Quinn said, waving her hands, "Obviously Rose never knew her father was a Lunar, which makes sense. The last recorded Lunar and Earth marriage was in 2 E.T., not including Ze'ev and Scarlet Benoit. John Fang must've been an outcast or illegal immigrant." 

Before they could argue more, Thorne heard shuffling behind him. Torin opened the door in the midst of the argument. The whole room quieted. 

"Your Royal Highness? She's arriving in 3 minutes." 

···  


Cinder grunted as she watched the spaceship feed on the pilot's seat. Kinney and Meri stood there anxiously by the door, even if there was still 5 minutes before arriving. Cinder had, to be honest, she did miss seeing Kai and the rest of her friends. 

"3 minutes," Meri declared across the room. Cinder gulped and pulled the hatch. The landing instructions popped up, but Cinder ignored them.

"Automatic Landing Series, starting. ETA in 2 minutes and 59 seconds," an automated voice rang through the Lunar ship. Cinder sighed after locking the panel and buried her head in her arms. 

Cinder couldn't tell what she was feeling; pain? Frustration? Maybe even the inevitable feeling of missing them? 

"ETA in 1 minute and 02 seconds. Please navigate to the boarding dock safely." The chime of the voice rang in her ears again as she fiddled with the wrench, bored. How could 1 minute take so long? 

She got up and quickly adjusted her hair. Iko had made her put attention to her hair and clothing (It's the big day to see your fiance!), but she agreed on a simple baby-blue blouse with a small ruffle, which miraculously didn't make her shoulders poof out. 

Iko chose to string in small beaded Lunar pearls in her hair, which made a nice _clink-clink_ sound if she tried to blow her hair from her eyes. 

"Cinder! Ok, smile," Iko beamed, her blue hair in braids. 

"I- uh- ok?" Cinder forced a smile and Iko examined her. 

"No food in your teeth, you look fine. What's the ETA?" Iko asked, picking on her nails, painted blue on the occasion. 

"I- um, 30 seconds?" she read off the port. Iko's eyes widened but she tried to calm herself. 

"30 seconds. 30 seconds. We got this," Iko gasped. Cinder bit back laughter, but Kinnley couldn't stop but lose a chuckle at Iko. Cinder glanced at Meri, who was busily comming her contacts. 

"ETA in 10 seconds. Please brace yourself for landing. Automatic Landing Series complete, opening doors in a moment," Meri read off the port, then pausing, "Can I open the doors now, Your Majesty?"

Cinder hesitated, but only for a moment. "Call me Cinder, please. The doors- the doors can open. Did you contact the control panel yet?"

"Natch."

"Great. The doors may be opened," Cinder concluded. She had gotten better with the whole 'queen' thing, but she still had to rack her brains for the right script. 

In exactly 3 seconds, the doors started to hum, signalling that the doors were opening. "Uh, Iko, you go in first. I need to grab something," Cinder blurted out. 

"What-"

"Go, please," Cinder grimaced and rushed to her cabin area. After rustling through her shelves, she found a small black box and slipped it into her pocket. 

"Cinder?!"

"Coming!" she replied to Iko and rushed out of the cabin. When she approached the spaceship door, it was already open. She let her eyes adjust to the sun and looked around. Her eyes circled wildly across the landscape until it landed on... Kai. 

"KAI!" Cinder ran out and embraced Kai. She would be crying if she could, but she still buried her head into his shoulder. 

"Cinder..." he whispered, kissing her on her hair, "You're here."

···  


**That's all for Chapters 1-5! If you want to read Chapter 6+, go to my Wattpad account (@audydapotato_yt). Hope to see you there!**   


**-audy <3**

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed these chapters, check out my Wattpad account (@audydapotato_yt) for the rest! This is in progress, but most of the work will be there. Hope you have a wonderful day/night! Hope to see you there! mwah <3


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